In order to register to vote, women were required to provide national ID cards (many women do not have them), proof of residence (almost all Saudi women live with their legal male guardians, and residency documentation is in the man's name), plus there were limited times to register and limited knowledge by district clerks to help women with the registration process. Another huge problem was that voting was only allowed on one day, and inconsiderate and impractical policy in a world where women cannot drive. The cards were definitely stacked against women from the get go.

I have to say that this event, called 10KSA, was so much more pleasant than the previous event in Jeddah because of the weather. Under the guidance of Princess Reema, it was obvious that much was learned from the first event to make this one run much smoother. It was well run and organized and didn't seem to take nearly as long to form the ribbon and set the record as it did before in Jeddah.

10KSA official scarf designs 2015

All women who came were provided with pink fuchsia scarves to wear. One of the rules for the world record is that all participants must be wearing the same color. There were four different designs that I saw - the main body of the scarves were the solid pink and the ends had different designs that were chosen from entries in a contest. The designs all incorporated Arabian influence with the breast cancer theme.

Witnessing the sea of women outfitted in matching pink, coming together for such a worthy cause was extremely exciting and meaningful. Seeing the pride, motivation, and determination of the women of all ages
in Saudi Arabia was quite a profound and inspiring experience.

The excitement builds as thousands of women wait for the Guinness judge's decision. (Photo: Blue Abaya)

Now just think about both of these history making events for a moment. In a
country where women are still denied the right to drive cars themselves,
logistically speaking, both of these accomplishments required immense
planning, determination, and effort. Yet both of these events were
tremendous successes. It just goes to show that when Saudi women put
their minds to something, you better get out of their way!

P.S. - I almost forgot to mention that the worldwide transport company Uber provided FREE transportation to the women of Saudi Arabia on that day if they were going to vote or were attending the Pink Ribbon event. So a big "Thank You to Uber" for their support and generosity in making these events successful.

Search

Meet Susie of Arabia

DO NOT COPY

DO NOT COPY

The entire content of this website is copyrighted to Susie Khalil and should never be reproduced/copied to another website without written authorization from the owner. Websites that are scraping content in the form of RSS feeds, bots, or manual methods will be reported to their web host with a DMCA take down notice.